The top US military officer warned on Monday that any strike against Iran would not be “decisive” in countering Tehran’s nuclear program.

Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he supported using diplomatic and economic pressure against Iran and repeated his view that military action could carry “unintended consequences.”

“No strike, however effective, will be in and of itself decisive,” Mullen told a press conference after recently returning from a visit to the Middle East.

But he said the US military stood ready with plans for possible action if necessary.